Ginger, the cousin of one of the most powerful natural cures for multiple disease, is packed full of different medicinal properties and uses. But did you know how powerful it really was when it comes to curing cancer?

Turmeric's effects on cancer are widely known, and now new research is showing that its cousin spice, ginger is just as powerful. Not only that, it’s been found to be even more effective than some cancer medications at killing cancer. There is even evidence of some cancer medications being ineffective and actually accelerating the death of cancer patients.

The Power Of Ginger

In astudy conducted by Georgia State University, whole ginger extract was able to reduce the size of a prostate tumor by 56% in mice. In addition to its effect on cancer, ginger was also observed to reduce inflammation and supply the mice with life-enhancing antioxidants.

In another study published in PLoS, it was found that one particular compound in ginger known as 6-shogaol is superior to conventional cancer medication, namely chemotherapy, at targeting the root cause of breast cancer malignancy: breast cancer stem cells.

Sometimes referred to as ‘mother cells’, cancer stem cells are the cause of a wide range of cancers, not simply breast cancer. These ‘mother cells’ are responsible for creating the different ‘daughter’ cell types that makeup the tumor colony. While cancer stem cells only constitute .2 to 1% of the cell makeup of the tumor, they seem to be almost ‘immortal’.

This implies that these cancer stem cells are able to renew themselves, capable of continuous differentiation, resistant to conventional chemotherapeutic agents and are capable of splitting off and forming new tumor colonies.

The only way to fully ensure that your body is cancer free is to destroy the cancer stem cells within a tumor.

The new study found that the incredible active ingredient in ginger known as 6-shogaol was super active when it came to anti-cancer stem behavior.

6-shogaol is produced when the root is either dried or cooked, to very common uses for ginger already. But there is something very specific about 6-shogaol that makes it superior to chemotherapy treatments for cancer.

Scientists showed in the study how the cancer-destroying effects of ginger occurred at concentrations that were non-toxic to non-cancer cells.

That means that this particular component of ginger only killed cancer cells, leaving healthy cells alone. This makes it very different from conventional cancer treatments that do not display that kind of selective cytotoxicity, meaning they can really harm the patient.

In the treatment of breast cancer, 6-shogaol drastically affects the cell cycle, which increases cancer cell death. It induces programmed cell death through the induction of autophagy. It also inhibits breast cancer spheroids (lumps) from forming. But that isn’t the only astounding thing about 6-shogaol.

The study also found, in some tests of the cancer drug taxol, the same level of effectiveness at destroying cancer stem cells and tumors as 6-shogaol wasn't found. Even when the concentrations of taxol were increased, it was still found that 6-shogaol was 10,000 times more effective at killing cancer stem cells, stopping tumors from forming, and keeping healthy cells alive.

More research needs to be done to show how ‘modern cancer medicine’ is not as effective as natural remedies. We can not be making our bodies sick while trying to cure a disease, that is simply not enough anymore.

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